Lucy Is A Labrador 5.13a

Lucy Is A Labrador is pitch 22 of the Pineapple Express variation to El Niño on El Capitan's Southeast Face, rated 5.13a. It is an alternative finish that trades the original Eismeer pitch for a steep, compression-style boulder problem, well protected by two high bolts but often running with water, since seepage on this part of the wall persists after any real rainfall. Climbers traverse out left on exposed, juggy 5.7 climbing before the compression moves, making it as much about route-finding and managing wet holds as raw power.

History

The pitch sits within El Niño, first freed by Alex and Thomas Huber in 1998, and within the Pineapple Express variation that Sonnie Trotter and Tommy Caldwell used to complete the first true free ascent of the entire route on November 19, 2018. As a late pitch on a long free attempt, Lucy is a Labrador has become known among parties on the route as a place where conditions, not just difficulty, decide whether the day goes clean, since even climbers who find the moves themselves reasonable can be stopped by water on the holds.

On film

Arc'teryx Presents: Ground Up (2024) follows Amity Warme and Brent Barghahn's ground-up free attempt of the El Niño Pineapple Express variation over eight days on the wall. Lucy is a Labrador is shown late in their attempt, illustrating how a route that has already demanded sustained hard climbing for over twenty pitches can still be decided by a single compression sequence, complicated further by whatever moisture is present on the wall that day.